Fire Emblem: Quest for the Third Dragon
by wellversedfangirl
Summary: Eliwood, Lyndis, and Hector must defeat Nergal. But first, following Athos' advice they try to find a rumored third dragon to join them. But a mysterious morph shows up and whisks them away to a place where nothing is as it seems. They must play her game, or else Nils will die by her hands. Can they get out before their emotions reach their limit?
1. Their Mission

**Author's Note: This is my first story! But I will be rigid when it comes to grammar, and if I'm not please tell me! If the plot is bad also tell me, but this story will not follow the original story line of Fire Emblem (The one released for Game Boy Advance in 2003) but I will be improvising a bit. Some of it is the same though. And of course, I do not own Fire Emblem. I hope you enjoy reading it! :D**

Chapter 1: Their Mission

Once, in the great land of Elibe, very many years after the terrible war of the Scouring, a terrible war in which dragon fought man, rose a group of mercenaries who ventured out to solve the rising dilemma connected to the dragons of ages ago. Among these great heroes were Lyndis, granddaughter of the Marquess of Caelin, Eliwood, son of the Marquess of Pherae, Hector, brother of the Marquess of Ostia, Sain and Kent, knights of Caelin, Florina, Pegasus knight of Ilia, Jaffar and Nino, former members of the Black Fang, Marcus, Paladin of Pherae, and many others. And their numbers continued to grow as they traveled along the vague path that was set for them.

Their path now was to adventure out and find a rumored third dragon. The first two were Ninan and Nils, who were in their company. They had picked them up when they were being chased by the Black Fang. The one controlling the Black Fang, Nergal, was power hungry and required quintessence, or life force, for his vast amount of power. And he wanted the two dragons in human form, Ninian and Nils, to call forth more dragons from the dragon's gate, which is where the dragons retreated to after being defeated in the war of the Scouring. Nergal wished to use these dragon's quintessence and control them to take over Lycia. But the group led by Eliwood, Lyndis, and Hector would not let that happen. So their travels led to one of the seven great warriors, Athos the Archsage, in Nabata, because of his advice they retrieved ancient weapons to defeat Nergal. One of those including the great blade Durandal.

But his words carried another mission for the group, before they could vanquish the evil sorcerer. Another was needed in the motley group. One rumored so, that even Jaffar and Nino had heard vague tales of this enigmatic person, once dragon. Athos with his premonition knew that they had to find him, but knew not why. Those facts were still amiss to him, and everybody else. So they traveled across the land of Elibe looking for this supposed third dragon. So now we find our group, which had been together for quite a long time, in a village looking for clues, dealing with relationships and worries all at the same time. All while trouble was brewing at the dragon's gate, on the Dread Isle.


	2. In the Mind

Chapter 2: In the Mind

Ever since he saw her the first time in the village, his thoughts lingered longer on her. Longer every day, he would ponder over her beautiful hair, and elegant voice. He always thought, why was it he who had these thoughts? Why couldn't it have been Sain, the flirtatious womanizer? It should've been him, but he let these emotional thoughts sink in far, and much to his dismay they affected his efficiency of battle.

Swing to the left to miss an arrow, he couldn't grab his javelin in time to strike back. A swordsman came and attacked him from behind, thoughtlessly he grabbed an axe. He would've been taken out if it wasn't for the enemy's low speed. In the middle of the battle, he sat there on his horse panting, frustrated with himself that he couldn't do better.

"Is there something wrong?" Sain asked as he galloped up to him after finishing an inexperienced black mage.

"No, no, I'm fine. I guess I didn't sleep too…watch out behind you!" An anima sorcerer stealthily had come up from behind Sain. And with a charge with his steel lance, Sain took him out in one blow.

"You're getting better." Kent complimented.

"I know." Sain added with a sly smirk. And with that compliment he rode away to show off, completely forgetting the reason he came over there was to comfort his friend. Kent stood there over the battle field. Pent had taken out two or three guys in a few minutes, so had Canas. Marcus was probably somewhere helping Eliwood. The nomad trooper Rath flung several arrows and finished off an enemy that Nino had almost defeated, but had her health down. And soon before he knew it, the battle was over. And everybody was back at camp, taking up their share of vulneraries.

Kent took an elixir he had stored away because of the damage he took when fighting that swordsman. He sighed and sat alone in his tent that he and Sain shared. Wondering if this feeling in his heart was ever going to go away.

"But we have to strike him soon! If not, we could lose the whole battle!" Hector nearly yelled. Eliwood, Lyn, the tactician, and Hector were reviewing over the battle plans. The tactician, Mark, had begun to stand in the corner with Eliwood because he had said his fair share and wasn't going to be able to say any more when Lyn and Hector countered everything the other said.

"We must use stealth, and guile! To cleverly win this battle. Your way, we'll lose atleast two or three men, we'll be able to do win, but at a sacrifice." Lyn argued.

"It's not certain that we would, we have enough time to come up with a quick, forceful plan." Hector said.

"That's all you think about, the force! Not what goes behind, like our people out there giving all they have just to be overwhelmed because of a poor battle decision!" Hector glared at her and the two in the corner could swear they heard him growl. Frustrated Lyn stomped out of the room. How could he not care about who survived or not when they battled? Almost every word he said bothered her to the core. She sighed heavily, and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. She stood there with her hands on her hips, trying to calm herself down.

"Is there something wrong?" Kent walked up and asked her.

"No, I'm just a little frustrated. It's days like these I wish I was back in my endless fields of waving grass." She answered.

"Well, I know you enjoy it here, so it can't be too bad." Kent said.

"You're probably right, it's just…Hector gets me so mad! I can't think straight."

"Well, how about you come walk with me, I was just about to get some fresh water from the spring a little ways from here."

"I think that would be nice, thanks Kent, I could use a little walk." She smiled.

The impudence! She probably didn't know as much as he did about battle strategy! And if they make the wrong move, no matter the strength of their little army, they would suffer heavy casualties. It's not that he didn't care about the people that he helped lead, it was because he cared about them that he wanted the best advantage to quickly wipe out the enemy. So the responsibility of battle wouldn't hang so long over their shoulders. He sighed, because he knew how heavy a responsibility that was.

He thought back to the argument. Maybe she did have a point. And when she got mad, her eyes would almost pulse with that beautiful green color. He shook his head. Why would he be thinking about that? And the way her mouth creased when she was about to say something important, or how when she's thinking, she slips a lose hair from her ponytail behind her ear. He slapped his forehead and continued to lumber to his tent to catch a breath, and hopefully focus his thoughts more.

Some of the gang were gathering around the fire at dusk, to have their dinner that Rebecca, and Wil had cooked up. It was stew…again. They were lucky if Rath or Wil could snare a rabbit or deer. For now they would have to stick vegetables and water. The vegetables were thanks to Lucius who knew how to gather the right ones.

"Raven, could I borrow your bowl?" Priscilla asked her brother.

"Sure thing." He answered. Raven took a serving of stew into his bowl and gave it to Priscilla. Meanwhile Serra wiggled herself into a comfortable position on the log everyone was sitting on. She managed to sit right in between Florina and Fiora.

"Hi, girls! I don't say, it's been a while since we talked hasn't it?"

"Quite long." Fiora said, more interested in her stew than Serra's conversation.

"I suppose it has been a while…" Florina meekly replied.

"Yes, and we've taken on quite a few more people lately. So I haven't had the chance to talk my opinions about them, and I just couldn't stand it any longer." Fiora ignored her, while Florina looked quizzically at Serra's emphasized hand movements.

"Serra, quit being so insufferable." Erk had just walked by and witnessed the one sided conversation of hers. But she continued on like he hadn't said a word.

"All of them seem so mysterious! I mean take a look at Hawkeye, like what kind of name is that? He doesn't even say two words! Then you have Pent and his wife, they hardly mingle. Not to mention Jaffar, who never even talks to anyone other than that little girl."

"Nino?" Florina asked.

"Why yes of course. Erk, aren't you training her or something?"

"Yes, I am, or something." He added to mock her. With a fowl look Serra crossed her arms. Everybody was deep in their own personal conversations like this one not noticing that the sky was getting much darker much sooner than normal.


	3. The Dream of the Rainy Night

**Sorry if I don't upload very often, I am a little busy. But I'll try atleast once a week. I hope you'll enjoy! :D Thanks for the reviews so far, :)**

 _Chapter 3: The Dream of the Rainy Night_

It was another night at camp, and the sky was pouring down it's torrents of rain. It was a long and sleepless night for most. One of the ones being Ninian, who tossed and turned in her bed, suffering from a nightmare. The humid air, and incessant clamor of rain made it nearly impossible for anybody to get rest. Nils arose not only from the noise, but also from the moaning Ninian was making next to him.

"Ninian? Ninian? Are you alright?" he asked shaking her.

"Ye…yes…I'm fine." She awoke drowsily.

"What were you dreaming about? It must've been awful because you were moaning loudly in your sleep."

"Was I? Sorry…" she said. Nils frowned.

"You don't need to apologize, what was bothering you so much?"

"I do…don't know," she closed her eyes trying to remember, "The third dragon… I saw him…he's near. I can feel it. But…something happened,"

"What happened?" Nils inquired, worried about what she had seen. Ninian, sitting down, began to sway, like she was re-experiencing the awful dream that she had. Her face grimaced. "Ninian, what happened?"

"Fire…a portal…it's the dragon's gate," she was saying with her eyes still closed. "Blood…a shining dagger…a descendant" she blinked open her eyes to reveal the tan color of the tent with blankets all askew inside.

"What's it supposed to mean?" Nils asked.

"I don't know…" she stared blankly at the side of the tent. Hearing the pouring rain hit and slide down it, creating a racket. Suddenly the sound of the rain increased as someone untied the front of their tent and stepped inside, bent over. It was Eliwood. His red hair was soaked, along with his pale white under shirt, and sleek black pants, that were supposed to go under his armor. His blue eyes were big, and concerned. He couldn't possibly have heard Ninian and Nils through the storm. Though it seemed like he had heard every word of their daunting conversation.

"I…I felt like I should come over here. Is there something wrong?" Eliwood asked.

"No, nothing's wrong." Ninian answered.

"That's not true, it seems we're going after the wrong person." Nils said. Both Ninian and Eliwood furrowed their brows looking at him. "Ninian just had a dream, and when she was telling me about it she said something about a descendent. All I can guess is that we have to look for a descendant of the third dragon. Because she had said something about the dragon's gate before."

"I didn't think about that…actually I don't remember much of what I said." Ninian added.

"Well that seems like a useful insight, could you tell me anymore Nils?" said Eliwood.

"She said something about blood which I'm guessing is probably the clue that the guy we're looking for is dead," he stopped for a moment, and looked vacantly out into the distance. For one of the first times since he joined his journey, Eliwood could see fear in the young boy's green eyes. "Ya, he's dead…and then she said something about a shining dagger. I…I have nothing else."

"Hmm…a shining dagger…sounds like a light brand to me." Eliwood said.

Nils objected, "I don't think that's it."

"Why did you come over here?" Ninian asked, diverting the conversation. Eliwood ran his hand through his hair and looked down at the floor from where he was sitting.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to see if you were having trouble sleeping too. I… I wanted to be with you."

Ninian smiled, "Thanks for coming over here, I…appreciate it." Eliwood smiled too. He inched closer to her.

"Well, Eliwood you'll have me tell everyone about Ninian's dream tomorrow right?" Nils asked.

"Of course." Eliwood said, and he winked at him.

"Ok good, I'm going to bed now." Nils said. Eliwood continued to smile as he watch Nils cover himself with his blanket and close his eyes. Then he turned his head back to Ninian, torrents of thoughts pouring like the rain outside running through his head of all the things he could say to her. Ninian gazed at him like she understood his loss of words. But the rain couldn't have been loud enough to drown them out for soon they started to smile and talk with each other, nearly alone in the small tent.


	4. A Tale for a Lead

**Sorry it's been so long! and for the long wait two chapters in one day!**

Chapter 4: A Tale for a Lead

The whole troop nearly fifty members, traveled west, heading for the land of Etruria. Since the rainy season had come it was difficult to make much ground. But they traveled on. Spurred on by some leads they had heard from the villagers of a small town near Araphen. They had heard from them a tale amongthe elders of the people. They had said that their mothers and fathers, when growing up, would tell them a true story of a woman who had passed through the village. The tale said that a woman who wore a cloak far down her face had gone through and stopped by the inn.

In the story all the people in the inn suddenly heard a big ruckus. Elfire, and lightning were flying everywhere, and destruction was abroad as a large group of bandits came in, intending to wreak havoc on the small village. A baby began to cry inside the inn, though there wasn't one, so the story goes, and the cloaked woman rose, and hurriedly walked out. The innkeeper rushed out and grabbed her arm, warning her not to go out for the chance of getting killed by the bandits. In that split moment that she released herself from his grip the innkeeper caught the fiery green gaze of her eyes, and that there was a baby hanging in front of her inside the cloak. He had never seen bright eyes like those.

Even against his warning she went out into the chaos. The people in the inn who were cowering in the corner of the bottom floor of the inn, were murmuring to themselves, sure that the mysterious woman was going to be slaughtered within the next couple minutes. But outside, the noise from the bandits had almost ceased. The innkeeper, curious more than afraid, poked his head out to see what had happened. There she was in the middle of the wreckage of the small town center with her arm up, reaching out of her dark brown cloak. Green looking magic had lingered on her hand as she lowered it. And around had fallen all the bandits that plagued the village.

The man's mouth was agape in shock. He couldn't believe that that one person had taken out all of them.

"Miss," he said once he was able to get words out, "Why…why did you do that? Why'd you save us?" her magical glare glowed from under her hood, and she stood there for a second. Seeming to think of answer, or whether or not just to walk away.

"Because I was one of them that didn't blame you," she said, and then she walked off. Not knowing what to do with that response, the innkeeper stood there in silence watching the powerful woman walk off, as the baby beneath her cloak began to cry again. And as he stood there he could hear her voice softly consoling the baby, the hurt from her last words that he spoke to her almost gone.

And that was the first and the last time the villagers ever saw her. Though some say, that a few children had followed her a ways out and discovered that she was headed northwest. Then the tale ends, but of course there were many more embellishments to the story, you can't have one without them and those details were the ones that were the most consistent amongst all the stories told. The woman in the story seemed to fit the characteristics of a dragon that had taken human form. So it was good enough for them, but it was still a possibility that they were on a wild goose chase, but they had no choice but to follow the only lead they had.

As they traveled along, the sun glistened off the wet grass. This sun was a late one, it had nearly slipped behind the edge of the horizon, and led way to dusk then night. The sun was setting earlier and earlier each night for winter was coming on, as the air continued to get colder. And the low temperatures conveyed the message of early snow that year. And even earlier since they were headed for the more northern land of Etruria. They traveled for many a day and night. Sweat pouring down their foreheads while they breathed their exhausted, heaving breaths as they trudged on in the heat of the day.

Though through the harsh physical strain of traveling many miles, they were thankful; thankful that no more blood had to be spilled, thankful they didn't have to fight. But even so they were always on their highest guard, afraid that the peace they desired wasn't about to last very long. Nino, with her tiring feet would ask every once in a while, "Can you see the mountains?" and Jaffar who was always near her would say, "No, but I can feel their greatness in the distance." Apparently that satisfied her, because that was the answer he gave her after every time she asked.

Gratefully, in the distance Eliwood's eyes could see the looming mountains in the distance, after nearly two weeks traveling and almost no swords having been unsheathed. Eliwood turned to the tactician Mark,

"Fine, you win the bet. We made it in two days," he whispered.

"What'd you expect I'm a tactician, my job is to predict things," Mark responded, and Eliwood chuckled. Eliwood and Mark had walked further ahead and turned to see the rest of the group approaching. They witnessed their friend's eyes catch the first glimpse of the mountains.

"Oh! We're finally here!" Sain yelled, and everyone else's thoughts echoed his words.

"Do you see how pretty they are Jaffar?" Nino asked.

"I can see why I felt them from so far away, they are great indeed." Jaffar answered.  
"At long last…" Pent said.  
"It is really great to finally be here, my lord." His wife Louise added. Next to her stood Erk, arms folded.

"Now what in the world are we supposed to look for now that we're 'here'," he said.

"Don't be so pessimistic Erk! Gaze at the mountains, feel their beauty, and be overwhelmed by the feeling of knowing that we will find anything we seek," Serra encouraged, clutching her hands to her chest, staring longingly at the white tips in the clouds. And with that they made camp, their near tasteless dinner was satisfying to their lips, and Nils' music charmed their hearts. Night came and they rested, sure that tomorrow they would find the reason why they had wearied, traveled souls.


	5. Sent Off

**Next chapter! I hope you like this one too** **J**

Chapter 5: Sent Off

In the morning Lyn rose, greeting the fresh new day, after a sleep without interruption. She dressed, grabbed a canteen of water, bent over and ran it through her long, untied hair. She put it up again, splashed the water in her face and smiled. This day was surely to be fruitful, she thought, as she walked out of her tent.

Most of the others had already gotten up and were having breakfast. Everyone was calm, and most were engaged in soft, friendly chatter. And at that moment Kent walked up to her, and bowed.

"Lady Lyndis, it is nice to see you this morning." He said.

"Kent, you have no need to call me that." She answered.

"Very well, how did you sleep last night Lyndis?" he smiled after seeing hers.

"Quite nice, I look forward to today bringing the answers we need in our quest."

"I too my la…I mean Lyndis." After his stuttered words she giggled. But afterwards both turned to see Eliwood walking towards them. He was smiling so it certainly wasn't anything too dire or possibly that important. But before Eliwood could reach them Nils came running up from behind him, and he shouted,

"Eliwood watch out there's danger! Everyone move!" by everyone he meant Lyn, Kent, and Eliwood which were the only ones in Nils' range of vision. As they all ran away from the area Eliwood was standing, there materialized a person in a dark cloak. They had seen this type of materialization before. They saw it when they defeated the morphs Sonia, Ephidel, and Limstella. It must be another one.

The person under the cloak flipped the hood over to reveal their face. It was a woman with shoulder length raven, black hair and yellow eyes. The main characteristics of a morph. With everyone else's breakfast disturbed and all eyes on her, she smiled.

"Who are you?" Hector asked as he came running out of his tent, only half his armor on.

"But who are you, half-clad warrior?" she said. Hector was disgusted.

Eliwood walked in front of Hector, Hector towered over him, so it didn't do much. "Since you come and barge in on our camp without warning, I demand you reveal your identity." Eliwood said authoritatively.

"Ah, well I did do that didn't I? But not without good reason. You see I was one of," she was interrupted by Hector,

"Was?" he said.

"Yes, was a mindless henchman following orders by your enemy, but I realized that Nergal was a heinous villain and made me using his power to only achieve his ends, but I didn't want to follow him. I didn't want to be controlled by some ravaging lunatic after power. So naturally I came to you, his enemies. I thought perhaps, a refugee like me could attain some sympathy."

"But what's your name?" Lyn inquired.

"My name is Naykel," she giggled, "I was one of his first Morphs, and naturally he named his first 'defective' ones as he now calls them, variations of his name. Quite humorous really." She said.

The woman stood there, her facetious grin not fading. Her arms were folded underneath her cloak, and she could be seen making small hand jesters under it. The three Lords stood around her, considering whether or not to believe the woman.

"You don't believe me? Ah well, there was this woman in a cave nearby. She seemed to have weapons in there, I think I heard the clank of metal as I was traveling this way. Aren't you interested in finding a specific person?" Naykel said. Hector scowled.

"Tell us who you really are!" said Lyn, poking her Mani Katti at Naykel's neck.

"I am who I said! Oh, why don't you believe me? I came of my own free will to help! I wish to see Nergal defeated as much as you do." Naykel said. And while Lyndis was interrogating her, Hector and Eliwood were standing behind her, arms folded, trying to seem menacing. Also from the various points in camp, nearly all eyes were on the conversation that was taking place.

"I don't believe you, for one thing if Nergal had seen you as 'defective' you would've been dead by now! He'd see no use for you as long as he thought that." Lyn nearly shouted.

"Well you're certainly right when it comes to that. So at this rate nothing I say you will believe. You're smarter than I thought," she cackled to herself, "I secretly hoped you were. Plan A was no fun, I was to ambush you along with some soldiers in that cave I talked about. But plan B is so much better!" she broke out in a malicious laugh. The three lords were taken aback by her blatant words.

Out of anger of even trying to be fooled, Hector swung his ax down hard in the direction of the sorceress. Suddenly she disappeared, just in time to dodge his blow.

"Come back here! Tell us why you're here!" Lyn yelled. Now with the intensified ruckus, Marcus came galloping towards them, he wanted to make sure his Lord was safe.

"Master Eliwood, is everything all right? I do believe that woman has something quite sordid in mind."

"I agree Marcus, though I actually had hoped that she was telling the truth. I wanted to believe that she could possibly be on our side," Marcus nodded in agreement, "But there is nothing we can do right now until we see her again, and then we will be forced to fight." Eliwood finished. Eliwood ran his hand through his unruly red hair, he believed that they weren't going to see her again atleast till the next day, when she would probably gather those forces from the cave that she was talking about. Or that could have been a lie as well. He didn't know. All he could do was hope that they could manage to fight whatever she had in mind. Coming out of his thoughts he just now noticed Ninian walking up to him.

"The morning's still fresh," she said putting a hand on his shoulder, "We can wait till tomorrow to worry about the danger amidst us."

"You're probably right. Do you want to come take an inventory with me of all our weapons? I must go talk to Merlinus." He asked. Before she could answer, Naykel surprised the both of them by appearing right behind her.

" _The morning's still fresh_ … Oh how sweet! You didn't think I would be gone so long?" she said mockingly tilting her body, and clutching her hands up to the side. She smiled a sinister smile.

"You…" Eliwood growled at her. But he didn't have time to say anything else for Nils appeared in her grasp.

"Nils!" both Eliwood and Ninian yelled.

Naykel laughed, "You'll be going somewhere, and if you attempt to get out then he'll die. That is, if you can figure out how to get out!"

"What are you planning to…"

Not another word was spoken. Naykel had raised her hand, and emitted a glowing orange magic. This magic expanded, and enveloped the entire camp.


	6. New Lives

**A/N- I am quite sorry in the delay of chapters, to say in a short word, I got very busy, and near forgot that I had to keep this up, until I got an email earlier. But this section is not for excuses, I will carry on. I really hope you like the next chapter, I had quite a bit of fun writing it :)**

Chapter 6: New Lives

He felt the soft earth beneath him as he pushed up with his arms, to get his weakened body up to see what was going on. Marcus felt like all the power had been seeped, stolen, from him. And as he struggled to get up he realized he didn't have his armor on. He wore brown woven cloth, with a leather strap tied around his waist, along with tattered leather shoes _. A pauper's clothes_ …he thought. He felt uncomfortable without his armor on. He really only ever had it off when he was about to sleep, and he certainly wasn't going to do that now.

He scowled, he couldn't make sense of his surroundings. He was in a village, or what looked like one. Villagers running about in the same brown dull clothing he had on. They went on with what they were doing, not even noticing he was there. Could he not be seen at all? He went up to someone to check.

"Ma'am would you mind telling me where I am at?" he asked.

"Oh Sir Marcus! You're in the village of course! Shouldn't you be at the tannery? You've been having lots of big orders lately for that outstanding leather you make." The ordinary looking woman answered. Not only was he noticed but this person seemed to talk to him like she knew him. And what tannery? He certainly didn't work at a tannery.

"What do you mean Ma'am? I'm a paladin, Sir Marcus of Pherae. You seem to be mistaking me with someone else." He said incredulous of what was happening.

"Paladin indeed. You've been sword fighting with your son too much. And how could I mistake you for someone else? No one could forget that lavender hair of yours." She chuckled. He had a son? What in blazes was going on? He definitely did not have a son…that he ever knew of. He just stood there in amazement not knowing how to react. She also said something about his hair. Ever since he was a boy he was made fun of having such a girly color for hair. But he had long gotten over it, he had nearly forgotten. "Good day Marcus, I suppose I will see you later when my husband and I come up to get our order of leather." She said, and walked off with the bucket that was in her hands.

He was dreaming, that was it. It was a crazy dream too. A son? For goodness sakes, why would his mind come up with a son? He certainly didn't want one, or did he? Still lost in the puzzlement of the strangeness of the situation, and what he believed to be an imaginary village, he ran off. Looking for someone he possibly knew, in case it wasn't a dream, but he stilled willed himself to wake up. For even the strong and wise knight that Marcus was, he was starting to get a little afraid with all the unknown things he was seeing.

As he ran, he whipped his head everywhere, looking for someone, anybody. But his feet were beginning to hurt, the shoes he was wearing weren't meant to be run in. Out of nowhere, not looking where he was going, he ran into somebody, and fell to the ground.

"Vaida! What are you doing here?" he shouted, after he had lifted his head from the painful fall.

"Looking for someone to crash into and send me falling to the ground, how about you?" she answered sarcastically. She was still on the ground rubbing her head in pain, in the process messing up her short blonde hair.

"I'm sorry," Marcus apologized, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Did I hurt you?" he lent his hand out for her to grab to get up.

"No, no I'm fine, you don't need to worry yourself." She sneered as she got up from the ground, rejecting his outstretched hand. As she got up he noticed that she was wearing something like the woman that he had spoken to earlier, but the long sleeves were ripped off, and the skirt was ripped all the way up to a point above her knees.

"Why is your clothing torn?" he asked in his studiously deep voice.

"Because only an insane woman would wear so much clothing on such a hot day as this, not to mention it restricts movement. Something I do not like." She said. And she was right, he noticed just now, it was quite unbearably hot.

After Lyn had gotten herself off of the hard wooden ground, she looked around expecting to see the camp. But all she saw was that she was in a wooden building, with tables and chairs, and a counter that looked like a bar counter. She looked down at her clothes. Her traditional Sacaen garb was gone, and in place a peasant villager's bland, brown dress, with a white apron tied around. She also noticed that her hair was down, falling past the middle of her back. While she was looking around to use something to put her hair up, she heard a groan.

"Who's there?" she asked cautiously into the seemingly empty room.

"Lyndis, is that you?" the voice said. Lyn looked over to the counter, which was where the sound was coming from. And holding his head, Oswin stood up from behind the counter.

"Oswin!" she yelled, happy she wasn't alone, "Do you know where we are? Did that witch take us somewhere?" she asked him.

"I honestly don't know milady. All I know is that we're not in camp, from what I can collect," He said.

"Ah, well, I thought I would ask. Let me go out, maybe I can guess where we are." So she walked out of the small building, and entered into what looked like a village square. The village looked almost nothing like any other village she had ever seen. It wasn't that it was completely unique from all the ones before, it was the opposite. This village was so ordinary, that it was unordinary. She sighed, wondering if she was having a dream. Everyone walked around, busy, in all the same types of clothes, all the women's dresses looked like hers, and all the men's looked like what Oswin was wearing. Just then an older man walked into the building that she had just walked out of.

"Sir, who are you? And do you know what I'm doing here?" she asked as she ran up next to him. He had almost made it to the counter.

"Lass, forgotten already? These teenagers really need to get their heads cleaned out…I'm Gulf, you should know me girl. I come in here every day into your father's tavern! Gadzooks, shouldn't you be helpin' him any ways? Or are ya just trying to get out of work?"

Father? Her…her father was dead….and he didn't own any tavern, not ever. She stood still mouth agape, tears ready to prick her eyes. "Golly Oswin, you should give that girl of yours a licking, don't know what's gotten into her. She's usually so sweet. Oh, and by the way, please get me some hard liquor. It's one of those days." Gulf said sitting down at the bar counter.

Now it was Oswin's turn to be stunned. Girl of his? What? He didn't have a daughter, let alone it definitely wasn't Lyn. "How do you know my name?" he asked the old man, who said his name was Gulf.

"Jee whiz Oswin, I been in here every day for the past two months! Course I know your name. What's this that's gotten into the both of you?" Gulf said. Oswin realized that something strange was happening, that it had to do with that spell the Morph Naykel had put on the camp. These people were probably all fake images in some elaborate plan of hers. So he decided to go along with it, to get as much information out of this straggly old man as possible.

"I don't know Gulf, sorry I blanked out for a second there, I've been having a hard day with that one," he pointed to Lyn, "Your drink will be right up." He said.

"There we go, about the time for some sense." Gulf said.

"What…what? You're not my father! Oswin what's wrong with you?" Lyn asked, extremely puzzled.

"Now you see here, you call me 'father' or 'sir', I don't want to see that lack of respect." Oswin leaned over the counter and stared at her, contrary to his words his eyes weren't hardened, and they seemed to secretly tell her that he wasn't serious. He was just going along with whatever was happening. There must be a good reason then, she thought, so she went along too.

"Sorry father, I was just playing with you." Though she wasn't being serious, calling someone else her father other than her beloved, passed away father, hurt a bit. Oswin looked at her again. This time his eyes seemed apologetic that she had to do that, then he winked, probably thanking her for going along with him.

"Now Oswin, where's that drink hmm?" Gulf asked.

"Right, right I'll get one for you now." Oswin said. He got a glass from a cupboard, and found a cask of liquor, poured it, and handed it to Gulf.

"Lyn, say where is that beautiful mother of yours?" Lyn was about ready to burst.


	7. Starting to Gather Together

**A/N-** **This chapter finally has an obvious shipping of mine...I have a lot of them. I'll include some of them, but they won't come for another chapter or two. Anyways, here's the next chapter. And if you want to, I'd absolutely LOVE to hear some of your guys' ships ;)**

Chapter 7: Starting to Gather Together

Oswin and Lyn didn't have time to react, for the door of the tavern swung open. Sain was standing there, in the door way exasperated.

"Oh Lyndis! Sweet and Beautiful Lyndis! I thought I was alone in this terrible and strange place! But now, I must fear no more. The strong lady of Caelin is safe, and I have found her!" Sain said in glee.

"Marcus really must curb that tongue of his…" Gulf muttered to himself.

Lyn had no need of answering Sain, she had heard the words whispered under the old man's breath.

"Marcus? You know Marcus?" She asked.

"Man, I've had enough of this playing around. You know Sir Marcus the tanner. And that's his son over there." He pointed to Sain. Sain seemed to take no notice of the man pointing to him. Instead he saw Oswin at the counter, and started walking towards him. On the way he grabbed Lyn's arm and dragged her to the seat next to him. This time they could barely hear the words Gulf was whispering to himself, but they supposed it didn't matter.

"Do you know where we are? Or anything about what is going on?" Sain asked seriously. Lyn didn't believe that he even had that kind of tone of voice.

"No I don't…I've no idea…" she tried to answer.

"I think we are in a fake, magic created illusion. Remember the spell that Naykel did right before we all blacked out? Well she probably did this for her own twisted game." Oswin added.

"You're probably right," Sain looked down, contemplating what they should do. "I also know that she said something to Eliwood and Ninian right before she enacted the spell. But I don't know what she said. Lady Lyndis did you hear what she said? You were sort of close to where they were," Sain asked.

Lyn looked down as well, "I can't…I can't remember, it's all too hectic. I'm sorry."

Sain gently lifted her head up, "There's no need to apologize, all we have to do is find Eliwood or Ninian and maybe they could tell us something that could help the situation. We should also look out to see if there's anybody else roaming around, as confused as we are." He said.

"You're right, good thinking Sain, you two go out and try to find the others. I'll stay here at this um, tavern. Once you're done come back here, we can use this as our main grounds until we figure out where we are. And I pray you find my lord Hector." Oswin added.

"Ok, that's a good idea Oswin, and we'll try. " Lyn agreed, "We'll go, we'll try to be back before sunset," she turned her head to look at Sain, "Should we start looking for Marcus? Apparently according to this magic village you're his son." She smiled.

"Yes we might as well," Sain laughed, "Apparently I'm Sir Marcus the tanner's son. The world must come to an end. The wise old fool has a son." Sain's joking manner was back. "Maybe we should check out the tannery to see if he's there."

"Alright." Lyn agreed.

After being mentally scarred by finding out that he had fallen unconscious on top of Serra, he tried to regain his dignity. Erk had finished looking around at the large village. There was nothing out of the ordinary, or if there was anything that was, it was too camouflaged for him to see at first glance. The sun beat down on his face, making it harder to think straight. He had never been able to work well in the heat, especially not searing heat. If only he could think.

"Erk, where in the world are we? Come on! You must have some answers! Don't you have like a big brain or something? Use it! I don't like it here." Serra yelled at him.

"Serra, if you would just be quiet a moment…."

"This place doesn't seem very big, if we just pick a direction, say north, and continued to walk that way, I'm sure we'd be out of here," She said, "There problem solved, with no help from you. Let's go." She grabbed Erk's hand and began to pull him in the direction she was going.

"Goodness woman, let me go, I'm trying to think. We can't just amble about without any information," Erk knelt to the ground, "I can feel the magic power flooding the ground, my guess is this is all an elaborate spell, or maybe a trap. Probably to keep us here, perhaps forever to get us out of the way…" he continued. He lifted his head from staring at the ground to see Serra walking around trying to talk to some of the villagers. She was talking to an average woman when he saw her face go completely blank, her mouth was agape, and for once Serra the cleric was speechless.

He also had just noticed that the both of them weren't in their usual clothes, Serra had her fiery pink hair down, and wore a simple dress akin to the lady she was talking to. And he wore leather pants and shoes, a thin shirt, and a cloak. He hadn't noticed at first the change in clothes because of the cloak, he was used to wearing one, and didn't think anything of his other clothes. He gazed at Serra's blank face, as the woman she was talking to walked away. What in Elibe would make Serra speechless? He got up, ignoring the surging power of magic that he felt flurry in the ground beneath him. He walked over to Serra and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's the matter Serra?" he asked.

"She…she said…" she paused for a while.

"What did that woman say Serra? This could be important to our quest, we need to get out of this foul place."

"It has….nothing to do with….that…"

"Then what _is_ it Serra?" he asked exasperated. He stared into her face, her bright eyes wide with unbelief. An expression he had never seen on her before.

"She said… we were….we were…"

"We were what?!" he was beginning to get annoyed.

"That we were engaged!" she finally yelled, shutting her eyes, and clenching her fists.

"Wha..what?" he was completely taken aback. "We…we're not engaged!"

"I know!" she continued, "I would…never think about…"

Erk turned around, and crossed his arms, "Hmph, such a thing is preposterous. I can barely spend two hours with you, let alone my entire life. This is an illusion, so it doesn't matter anyway. We need to find a way out of here."

"Ri..right," she said not really convinced of his straightforward words, "Where do you suppose we go?"

"I…I've actually no clue." Erk said, hanging his head. He didn't know, he hadn't gotten enough information to even estimate an efficient action. He looked around, his dark purple hair whipped around his face as he desperately looked around for something, anything that could be a clue. Then out of nowhere it began to snow. The cold air invaded the previous singeing heat. The division in the air was like nothing they had felt before. It was an instantaneous change from summer to a late fall. Erk and Serra's countenance raised at the sudden, unexpected phenomenon.


	8. She Hinted

Chapter 8: She Hinted

Mark wiped his weary eyes and could hear the noise of friendly chatter. But it seemed distant to him, like everything was in sight but out of reach, he could hear them, but they weren't there. And all this was too confusing for him. He was trying to regain consciousness after being surprisingly knocked out by some unknown force. It was hard to awaken yourself to reality, when reality didn't seem real at all. He groaned, now aware that he could speak. Or atleast moan. His eyes seemed glassed over, it was apparent that something or someone was prohibiting his vision of the place he found himself in.

Maybe it was his advanced sense of direction and predictability that made it known to him that he shouldn't quite trust even a little of what his eyes beheld. He had also lost that almost tangible connection to his teammates, the ones he sent into battle nearly every day. He would always be able to gaze into the battlegrounds and see everything, and know where everybody was, and where to send them. But he couldn't do that now. It was like some part of his brain was locked off, forbidding him to use the few skills he had depended on so heavily in the past few years.

That in itself was frightening. Imagine you were an incredibly great painter, and artist, then one day, you found yourself not able to create, or draw the simplest of things. That was what it was like for him to lose such a connection to the outside world. He lost a sense of control over what was happening, and someone took it from him. Maybe it was the woman they had encountered earlier that day. Or was it even that same day? It could've been the day before, a week ago, a vast amount of time could have passed between then and himself now. Time had also passed his understanding.

Thankful that he still remembered how to use his muscles, Mark managed to stand up, even this a strenuous task. The first thing he noticed other than the painful tear of weakened muscles, was that his green cloak was gone. The cloak that reminded him of his past, and reminded him to wear his past behind him. But it was gone, and a sense of security had also been robbed from him. He let out a cry of frustration, and did not take care to the fact that a chair, no matter if it was imaginary or not, was behind him as he stumbled backwards. Mark hit the ground, and a pain in his head became almost unbearable. Then suddenly, like a light shining through a fog of unreality, something solid, something not illusionary, was standing adjacent to his body which was sprawled on the floor of whatever kind of place he was in.

"I had almost forgotten about you," said a hideous voice, full of malice, "I'm glad I remembered, or you would have been a thorn in my side. You have great powers indeed for a young man."

Mark hastily, grudgingly, lifted his body enough to stare into the face of the speaker. And he recognized her at once as the woman who had plagued the camp some time ago.

"What…what do you want?" he asked.

"I don't want anything. Everything I've wanted has already happened. And all I have to do is sit back while you people flounder around this place I've created for the rest of your lives. I surmise you've already figured out that this isn't what it appears to be."

"It's certainly not," he croaked.

"I guessed, but to have it be more fun, maybe just maybe, I'll give you a clue. Maybe it'll be so tempting that you'll eventually succeed and see Nils die right before your eyes…that would be interesting wouldn't it? Sure it wouldn't please Nergal all that much, him, Sonia, and Limstella are always going on and on about power and being a perfect being. All I care is to do with my life, what pleases me," she said hotly.

"And, this…this pleases you?" Mark said, incredulous of this bizarre and shallow woman. By now he had made the excruciating effort of standing up. And he held himself up by holding onto a nearby table. With his body being so weak for no apparent reason made him frustrated, so he continued to glare at the woman. It was likely that she, with the immense, overflowing power that she had, was prohibiting him from fully returning to his senses. And that angered him, but he would not show his anger, or hatred, he would treat her with indifference. "And…what's this about Nils dying? What happened to Nils?"

"Oh, he's fine, he's just part of a little condition I made. The condition is if you weaklings ever do figure the way out that he would die. Of course a whole controversy would ensue. The less pure hearted of you would say it was worth one life for the rest of the group to survive. Should be quite a heated argument, indeed it would," as she was talking she was twisting one of the hairs near her face around and around on her finger. Even this little action, minutely showed that she thought herself superior to the rest of them, and that she had them tied around her little finger. "And I'll tell you a way to get out. That should heat it up even more." She laughed hideously.

"We'll find a way out…and save Nils. You have nothing against us, we will defeat you. Like all the other ones before." Mark said this with much more confidence than he felt. He really felt that their situation was bleak and dark, and hardly a loop hole could be seen, even for him.

"I doubt that, I have something the others lack. They lacked their own will, they only acted by way of Nergal's orders. Me…not so much. Even he, the great dark mage, cannot hold me down." Her lips drew up into a sinister smirk, her eyes radiating the glee she attained through her control. "So more to the point, I really must go soon, all you have to do to get out is do your part. That's it, play the part I've given you,"

Simultaneously Mark wanted to lean in closer, to hear best her words of escape, on the other hand he wanted to cover his ears, so he would not hear the tempting words. For if he acted upon them, Nils would perish.

"You may catch a sentence or two by the villagers, that don't make any sense whatsoever, and you'll have to string together the clues. I'm not going to make it easy!" she continued, "I do have a job to do after all." She continued smiling at him, while Mark grimaced in pain.

"Fine, be gone already." He said.

"It is a wonder," she said, "That you haven't lost your temper with me by now, being as painfully annoying as I am to you. However, I have enjoyed our little chat, up to you whether or not I ever lay eyes on you again." She looked up at the ceiling and cackled, and looked back down at him again, and winked. She whisked herself away and Mark saw no more of the dastardly woman. Then finally, the strain of trying to appear strong overwhelmed him, and the tactician collapsed on the floor.

 **A/N We finally get to see the tactician! I honestly wasn't going to originally include him, but I realized he provided an interesting role. Anyways, if you could, criticism would be great! I'd love to hear what I need or not need to do to make my stories the best they can be. Thanks for reading!**

 **(P.S. I would still love it if I could hear some OTPs from fire emblem since there are so many characters and all :D )**


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